Controller



u. E. COWGILL. CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FiLED FEB. 14. 191B.

gooooooo ooo Patented Nov. 18,1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGEO ULYSSES E. COW GILL, 0F ALTON, ILLINOIS.

CONTROLLER.

Application filed February 14, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ULYSSES E. Coweinn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alton, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controllers; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in controllers for use in connection with electrical circuits for the governing of the amount of current fed to a motor or similar device, and more particularly to that type of controller used in connection with motors for operating cranes and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a controller having a removable contact drum, which may be readily withdrawn from the casing in order that any necessary repairs or replacement of parts may be made without inconvenience.

Another objectof the invention resides in the provision of a controller frame which is slidable in the casing and in which the controller drum is rotatably mounted, which drum may be readily withdrawn upon the removal of the top or cover of the casing, so that the entire moving mechanism of the controller can be conveyed to a bench or other convenient place where it can be easily worked upon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a controller having movable contacts which can be shifted out of engage ment with those of the drum frame and thus disconnect the drum and the mechanism connected therewith without disturbing the connections of the wires with the movable contacts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a controller which operates in oil and from which it is unnecessary to withdraw the oil when making repairs.

With the above and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be fully set forth in the following specification, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1, is a top plan View of a control- Specifioation of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 18, 1919.

Serial No. 217,049.

ler constructed in accordance with this in vention,

Fig. 2, is a vertical sectional View through the controller taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 3, is a top plan view of t is controller showing the cover plate removed and illustrating the interior mechanism thereof,

Fig. 4, is a vertical sectional view of the device taken on line 4.l of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5, is a fragmentary front elevation of the controller illustrating the conduit fitting attached thereto,

Fig. 6, is a side elevation of the conduit fitting showing the same removed from the controller and illustrating the cover plate thereof removed,

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the conduitfitting, and

Fig. 8, is a vertical sectional view through the conduit fitting illustrating the cover plate thereof in place.

Referring now to the drawings in detail the numeral 1, designates generically the controller casing, which comprises a bottom wall having formed thereon the front wall 2, side walls 3 and 4 and a rear wall The vertical side edges of the front, side and rear walls are preferably formed integral so that the whole forms a liquid tight casing for housing the controller mecha nism. A cover plate or top 6 is provided and is secured in place on the casing by means of cap screws 7. A central boss is formed on the upper and lower sides of the top and is formed with an aperture through which the controller shaft extends. Vertically extending guides are formed in spaced parallel relation on the inner sides of each side wall and are designated by the numeral 8. These guides are to receive the controller frame and hold the same in proper position in the casing.

The controller frame hereinbefore referred to is designated by the numeral 9 and comprises the side bars 10 which are connected at their upper and lower ends by the end bars 11 and 12 and formed centrally of each of said bars 11 and 12 is a suitable curved bearing portion 13 for the reception of the drum carrying shaft to be more fully hereinafter described. A cleat 14 is provided for each of the end bars and each cleat is formed with a curved portion to form the removable half of the bearing for the shaft previously mentioned, In order that the proper relation between the top or cover plate and the frame 9 may be maintained the bottom bar of the frame is formed with. openings into which screws are threaded and these screws are adapted to be adj ustcd so as to either raise or lower the frame within the casing.

Secured to one of the Vertical side bars 10 of the frame 9 is a vertically extending insulating block 16 to which the contact fingers of the controller are secured. This block 16 carries a series of fingers 17 each of which is provided near its outer end with a contact spring 18 for engagement wit-h the drum to be more fully hereinafter described, and the opposite ends of the fingers are provided with individual contact members which project through the block, which members are designated by the numeral 19. As shown in Fig. 3, these contactmeinbers 19 project beyond the inner face of the block 16 and are adapted to contact with the movable contacts which will be more fully hereinafter set forth. A pivoted arm 20ismountcd between a pair of ears 21 formed on the frame 9 nee its upper end and is adapted for cooperation-with a notched wheel car ried by the drum shaft hereinbefore mentioned.

Formed integrally with one of the side walls of the casing 1 are pairs of ears 22, which are pierced with apertures for the reception of a pivot rod 23 which forms the support for a pair of arms 24, the opposite ends of which are secured to a supporting strip :25 which is in turn attached to an in sulating block 26 carrying the movable contacts which will be more fully hereinafter described. This insulating block 26 is provided at spaced intervals throughout its length with openings 27 which are counterborcd as at :28 and receive the contact elements 29, which are slidably mounted in said openings and suitable springs 30 are positioned between the bottom walls of the counterbored portions and the heads of the contact elements as will be seen upon reference to Fig. 3. These springs 30 normally tend to force the contact elements outwardly and in order to prevent the said elements from being entirely dislodged suitable nuts 31 are threaded onto the outer ends of the Contact elements and serve also as abutments for the connectors 32 as will be clearly seen upon reference to the drawings. Nuts 33 are threaded n the outer ends of the contacts and serve to hold the connectors in position.

In order that the contact elements 29 may be held against the contacts 19, pairs of brackets 34: are formed on the rear wall of the casing and project forwardly therefrom. Each of these brackets is provided with an opening through which a shaft 35' is rotatably mounted. This shaft 35 is provided.

with ca is which are arranged between the brackets 3t and are thus held in such a position that they will engage the arms 24 so that when the shaft is rotated the arms 25': will be ung either toward or away from the rear wall 5. The arm 24, is held in contact with the cams 3G, by means of a spring Such movmnent will of course cause the contact elements 29 to move either into or out of contact with the contact members 19, and in this way connect or disconnect the contact members 19 and fingers 17 from the feed wires designated by the numeral 37. The wires 37 above referred to are connected to bl'lGll respective connectors and thus permanently fixed within the casing. ln this way it will be seen that the connections may be broken without disconnecting any of the wires.

Rotatably mounted in the bearings formed th bearin portions 13 of the end bars 11 and 12, and the curved portions of the cleats 1st is a shaft 38 carrying a drum 39 which is provided on its periphery with contact portions 40 and insulating portions t1. The fingers 17 bear on these parts of the drum and in this manner establish conununication between the drum and the wires 37. The upper end of the shaft 38 is provided with a plurality of flat faces which are adapted to cooperate with Slll'lllttl' faces formed in a controller handle -12, in causing the shaft to rotate when the said handle is rotated. In order to hold the drum against accidental movement a notched wheel 43 is attached near the upper end of the shaft 88 and this wheel is engaged by the roller carried at the end of the pivot arm 20 hereinbefore mentioned. Under ordinary conditions the wires 37 pass through a cover sec- 105 tion 15 which is positioned at the rear of the cover plate 6, which cover section is held in place by suitable cap screws 46 which enter brackets L7 carried by the side walls of the casing as will be clearly seen upon re- 110 ferring to Fig. 4t. In. order that the wires may be led into a conduit therefor, the conduit connection illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive has been designed and consists of a bottom wall 18 having formed thereon a 115 rear wall .49 which extends upwardly therefrom and curves over toward the forward edge of the bottom wall as at 50. Suitable end walls 51 and 52 are formed at opposite ends of the bottom wall 48 and project- 120 ing from one of said end walls is a tubular extension 53 to which a conduit may be connected. As shown in the drawings the front of the conduit connection is open and is covered by a cover plate 54..

It will be apparent from the foregoing that in use when it is desired to gain access to the working parts of the controller the cover plate 6 is removed and the frame 9 may then be withdrawn by turning the shaft 1 35, which will cause the cams to allow the contact elements 29 to move away from and out of contact with the contact members 19. The drum and other parts of the controller may then be conveyed to a bench or other suitable or convenient place where any necessary parts may be repaired or replaced. It will be seen that this operation need not cause the removal of any oil within the casing and when the repairs are made the drum frame and balance of the working parts can be replaced by sliding the side bars of the frame into the guides 8 and the cover 6 may then be replaced and the controller is again ready for service.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that a simple and efficient controller is thus produced, which is readily accessible for making repairs and the like. It is to be understood, of course, that certain minor changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. A controller comprising a casing, a removable frame within said casing, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and bearing on the drum, movable contacts within the casing for normally engaging with the I aforementioned contacts and means to move the movable contacts out of engagement with the firstnamed contacts.

2. A controller comprising a casing, a removable frame within said casing, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and bearing on the drum, a second set of contacts arranged in the casing to co-act with the first-named contacts, and the means for moving said secondnamed contacts toward or away from the first named contact.

A controller comprising a casing, guides within the casing, a removable frame slidable in the guides, a controller drum within the frame, contacts carried by the frame and cooperating with the controller drum and movable contacts within the easing, adapted to be swung toward or away from the aforementioned contacts, whereby the frame, drum and contacts may be withdrawn from the casing.

4. In a controller a casing, parallel guides on opposite side walls of the casing, a frame slidable in the guides, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the controller drum, pivoted arms within the casing, an insulating block carried by said arms, contacts carried by the insulating block for cooperation with the first mentioned contacts, and means for swinging arms to move the contacts carried by the block toward or away from those carried by the frame.

5. A controller comprising a casing, the upper end of-said casing being open, a cover for closing said casing, a frame within the casing, said frame being removable through the open end thereof when the cover is removed, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, and movable contacts within the casing and adapted to be swung toward or away from the first mertioned contacts, so that 'when the cover is removed the frame may be withdrawn from the casing.

6. A controller comprising a casing, the upper end of said casing being open, a cover for closing said casing, a frame within the casing, said frame being removable through the open end thereof when the cover is removed, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, and movable contacts within the casing and adapted to be swung toward or away from the first mentioned contacts, so that when the cover is removed the frame may be withdrawn from the casing, and means to adjust the frame vertically within the casing.

7. A controller comprising a casing, the upper end of said casing being open, a cover for closing said casing, a frame within the casing, said frame being removable through the open end thereof when the cover is removed, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, and movable contacts within the casing and adapted to be swung toward or away from the first mentioned contacts, so that when the cover is removed the frame may be withdrawn from the casing, and screws for adjusting the frame vertically within the casing.

8. A controller comprising a casing, the upper end of said casing being open, acovcr for closing said casing, a frame within the casing, said frame being removable through the open end thereof when the cover is removed, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, and movable con tacts within the casing and adapted to be swung toward or away from the first mentioned contacts, so that when the cover is removed the frame may be withdrawn from the casing. and screws carried by the frame for adjusting the same within the casing.

9. A controller comprising a casing, the upper end of said casing being open, a cover for closing said casing, a frame within the casing, said frame being removable through the open end thereof when the cover is removed, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, and movable contacts within the casing and adapted to be swung toward or away from the first mentioned contacts, so that when the cover is removed the frame may be withdrawn from the casing, and means carried by the frame and engaging the bottom wall of the casing for adjusting the said frame vertically within the said casing.

10. A controller comprising a casing, vertically extending guides within the casing, a cover for closing the upper end of the casing, a frame slidable in the guides within the casing and adapted to be Withdrawn from said casing when the cover is removed, a controller drum carried by the frame, an insulating block carried by the frame, contacts projecting through the insulating block and associated with the drum, movable contacts within the casing and adapted to be moved toward or away from the first mentioned contacts, screws threaded into the bottom bar of the frame and adapted to ad just the frame vertically within the casing; and the means for moving the second mention contacts.

11. I11 a controller a casing, a frame within the casing, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, a pair of pivoted arms within the casing, an insulating block carried by said arms, said block being provided at spaced intervals with counterbored openings, contacts slidable through said opening, means to normally urge the contacts out of the opening and means to limit their movements.

12. In a controller a casing, a frame within the casing, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, a pair of pivoted arms within the casing, an insulating block carried by said arms, said block being provided at spaced intervals with counterbored openings, contacts slidable through said opening, means to normally urge the con tact-s out of the opening and means to limit their movements, and the means for engaging the arms to swing the contacts carried by the insulating block toward or away from the first named contacts.

13. In a controller a casing, a frame Within the casing, a controller drum carried by the frame, contacts carried by the frame and associated with the drum, a pair of pivoted arms within the casing, an insulating block carried by said arms, said block being provided at spaced intervals with counterbored openings, contacts slidable through said openings, means to normally urge the contacts out of the openin and means to limit their movements, and t e means for engaging the arms to swing the contacts carried by the insulating block toward or away from the first named contacts, and shaft within the casing and the cams carried by the shaft for engaging the arms whereby the move ments of the contacts carried by the insulating block will be controlled.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ULYSSES E. COWGILL. 

